I love hanging out with Cord - he is my favorite person. We've been trying to get down to his greenhouse to take it back and replant it and we finally made it.The very first thing we did was prep the middle bed for carrots. I had gathered a 5-gallon bucket of small, half-crushed leaves for this very thing. Carrots don't like a lot of nitrogen and they appreciate organic matter to keep soil loose so we dug the leaves in with compost. The leaves will tie up some of the nitrogen as it's breaking down. Meanwhile, the carrots like the aeration and good drainage.

It was a great start and we left happy and full of plans. 2 days went by and we made it there again, it's hard to get there and then once you do - you lose track of time and don't want to leave. Today we cleaned the rest of the beds, spread compost and Cord turned half of it in and raked it. Tomorrow is another day. It was so fun to clean up the old and prep for the new. We left this greenhouse fallow for a few months as our lives dictated. We didn't like it and were anxious to get it going again. So here we are - and the beds are throbbing with life - ready to deliver.

Before.

After.

Before.

After.

Last year's tomatoes and a lot of other past growth needed to be bagged up. All of the green plants - like a lot of arugula, went into the bag to go to the compost. I was so happy to provide Cord with my gold - my finished compost - and in exchange, he sent me enough green material for at least 2 layers! I can't wait to make some more compost in the days to come. It was a good trade.I loved our time together and soon it will all be planted. We will be direct seeding tomatoes at the foot of the barrels, and planting mixed greens up against the glass. Bok Choy and Chinese Cabbage are favorite winter eats. I'll keep you posted - it doesn't take long to have something to eat once you've planted.

Leave a Reply.

Author

Penn Parmenter is a high altitude gardener and student of the earth. She is married to Cord Parmenter - an awesome gardener, gorgeous man and a master blacksmith. She is a mother of three boys and an outdoorswoman. Penn forages wild food, hunts big game, fishes, preserves, maintains a huge organic forest garden and occasionally makes dinner. She has been working on self-publishing her book, "How To Grow Food In The Mountains", in between teaching a slew of mountain food growing classes and raising three boys. At home you can find her in her greenhouse as well as in the wilderness - nose to the ground, butt in the air, trying to identify Colorado natives.